“Despite the wonderful future potential of medicine,
real human longevity will only be attained when we move away from our
biological bodies entirely. As we move toward a software-based existence, we
will gain the means of “backing ourselves up” (storing the key patterns
underlying our knowledge, skills, and personality in a digital setting) thereby
enabling a virtual immortality. Thanks to nanotechnology, we will have bodies
that we can not just modify but change into new forms at will. We will be able
to quickly change our bodies in full-immersion virtual-reality environments
incorporating all of the senses during the 2020s and in real reality in the
2040s.”